


The Little Vampire

by moriartyswife



Category: Diabolik Lovers
Genre: laito daughter, vampire child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11027937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moriartyswife/pseuds/moriartyswife
Summary: Life as a vampire wasn't easy when you're being raised by six sadistic vampire boys. Laito, my dad, brought me in home when I old enough to walk. Since we vampires don't age like humans, I was many years older than a 3 year old, but my slowed physical growth kept me under 3 feet. Now a new girl has come to live with us. The mood in the house has shifted, and I don't like it.





	1. Biting Practice

               Everyone in the house was awake. From my bedroom, I couldn’t figure out why. Yawning, I slid on my stomach off the edge of the tall bed. My teal pajama shorts had twisted around my waist in an uncomfortable way. After fixing them, I stretched my arms over my head, making my shirt raise up, as another yawn took over. I’m so sleepy… but something is happening downstairs. Pushing the door open just wide enough for me to slip through, I walked down the hallway. At the top of the stairs, I could see that everyone was in the living room, plus a girl.

               The smell of blood wafted up, making my fangs hurt. Biting humans was still hard for me but her blood smelled really yummy. Taking one step at a time, I stayed as quiet as I could. Reiji pushed his glasses back up his nose and sat down in the chair nearest the fireplace. The girl had a sliver cross in her hands. She screamed, hurting my ears and bolted for the door. I stopped at the bottom of the staircase, rubbing my eyes with my hands. They burned from the bright lights.

               “Your kid is awake,” Subaru said, passing me to go back upstairs. He looked angry. He always looked angry but more than usual. At least it wasn’t at me. It isn’t fun when he’s mad at me.

               Before I could make another move, I’d been scooped up and I was looking right up at Laito, my dad. It confused me sometimes. At school, I couldn’t tell anyone that he was my dad because of our im..imor…living for a long, long time. “What are you doing up, Kisa?” His expression couldn’t tell me if he was mad or not.

               “I… There’s a girl,” I replied, letting my head fall back to look around him. She was gone, but Reiji caught my eye. His disapproving stare scared me. I held onto dad’s shirt and hid from him. “Who is she?”

               Laito chuckled, carrying me up the stairs. “A new house guest. Now, let’s get you back to bed.” His grip tightened on me, anticipating my attempts to free myself from his arms. “Kisa.”

               “I don’t want to! I want to stay up,” I whined, kicking my feet. Nothing worked. A small vampire like me, less than 3 feet tall, had no strength, not like my dad or his brothers. It wasn’t fair! I wanted to be strong. And I wanted to stay awake!

               “It’s the middle of the day, Kisa. You can’t be up this early.” Laito replied, taking me into my bedroom. The night light under the small desk glowed brightly, keeping the room brighter than it should have been with blackout curtains. He waited for me to stop the fit I was having.

               “I don’t want to,” I said again, but stilled. Tiredness took over in the darkened room. My curiosity always won out, but the sleepiness became harder and harder to fight.

               Finally setting me down in the spot where the covers had been drawn back, he laughed again. “You never want to, but this is grown up business. When you wake up, I’ll tell you all about this new girl, okay?” Sitting down beside me on the bed, Laito brushed my hair out of my face. Everyone says we look just alike. Same hair. Same eyes. I even had a mole on the opposite side of my face.

               I folded my arms, still mad. It’s not fair. I never get to stay up for anything! Yawning again, I rubbed my jaws a little. My fangs were hurting me.

               “So that’s it,” Laito said and raised one eyebrow. Lifting one arm, he continued, “Come on. It’ll make you feel better.”

               Frowning, I turned my head away. “Uh-uh.” Biting is hard. It hurt and I wasn’t any good at it. I’d rather just drink it out of cup like I used to. They’d taken that luxury away, insisting that I had to learn how to bite because I was a vampire. Blood was the only thing we really needed.

               “Kisa, you have to learn. I’m not leaving until you do. You can do it. Try.”

               Reluctantly, I gave in. I ran my tongue over my fangs. They were sharp and my teachers at school complained about them being so big. Unnatural. I heard that word a lot. They whispered about me and my family. I didn’t like it. Before I bit down, Laito said, “Hard.”

               This time I did it. Besides human blood, I’d only ever drank his and Ayato’s blood. Successfully… only a few times. Happy, I drank slowly. The warm blood coursed through my body, making me even sleepier. Since I was so small, it didn’t take as much blood to satisfy me.

               “Good job, little one.” Laito petted my head until I was done. He tucked me into bed and told me not to get up again. Usually, I stayed in bed until he came to get me dressed for school. Laito stayed with me until I couldn’t keep my eyes open and sleep took over. He kissed my forehead and said, “I love you, Kisa.” Those words weren’t said much by anyone but me, except in here late at night.


	2. Morning Breakdown

               The light in my room flipped on and I cracked my eyes open. It’s so bright… My closet door opened and Reiji sifted through my clothes, not speaking a word to me. I lifted the covers slowly over my head. Maybe he’ll just leave… The light shining through the comforter grew dark. “It is time for school. Get dressed immediately.” His harsh tone scared me. When I didn’t respond, Reiji sighed. “I should not have to remind you that should you not obey the rules, I will send you far away from here.”

               Dad says that Reiji only tells me that to scare me. He says that he would never send me away. But Reiji never makes jokes… so he could really send me away. The room fell silent and the light above me returned. Reiji must have left. I started to cry, unable to control it.

               “Kisa? Why are you crying?” Kanato asked, pulling the covers off me. Teddy dangled from his other hand. His head tilted to the side when I didn’t answer. “You can tell me.”

               I jumped up, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist. More tears fell from my eyes. “Don’t let him send me away! I want to stay here!” If he does, I’ll be all alone.

               Kanato’s arm wrapped around me to hold me up. He didn’t say anything to me for a few minutes, just letting me cry. When I’d calmed down, Kanato pulled me off him and set me back on the bed. “I won’t let him take you away. You’re my little doll remember?” He patted my head before opening my closet door to find some clothes.

               Sniffing, I rubbed my eyes. I watched Kanato pick out some clothes for me to wear. A blue jean colored dress with buttons down the front, and black tights. Sliding off the bed, I walked over to him, leaning down to look at his teddy.

               Kanato helped me change into the clothes, disappearing into the bathroom to get a hair brush. Kneeling on one knee, he pulled the brush through my hair, gently… like he did with his dolls in the basement. They were pretty. I liked to go look at them. 

               “Can I hold Teddy?” I asked, trying to hold still.

               “He doesn’t mind,” Kanato answered, still brushing my hair.

               As soon as he said it, I grabbed Teddy and held onto him tight. The feeling of the brush sliding through my hair actually calmed me down. No more tears fell. Still clutching onto Teddy, I turned around when he stopped brushing. “I feel better.”

               Kanato smiled, patting my head. “Good. I don’t like it when you’re sad.”

               I smiled for the first time since I’d gotten up. “When we get back from school, can we go downstairs and see the dolls? I want to see them.”

               “Of course. Maybe I’ll even dress you up,” Kanato replied.

               Grinning, I rushed forward to hug him, squishing teddy in between us.

               “You’re so tiny,” he commented, picking me up. Sometimes Kanato looked really sad, especially when there was some new girl living with us. He carried me all the way down to the car, still clutching me tightly with teddy when he settled onto the seat between Shu and Laito.

               “Kisa, why do you look like you’ve been crying?” Shu asked, eyes still shut and his music in his ears. How does he hear with those things in?

               I shrugged my shoulders and mumbled, “He was mean to me.” No human would have heard what I said but our sharp vampire hearing made it very clear. It will always bother me that Reiji wants to get rid of me. I played with Kanato’s tie to distract myself.

               Ayato and Yui came in with Reiji, meaning everyone was here now and the car started to move. “Sit properly in the seat.” Reiji’s hard gaze made me scramble onto the seat.

               Ayato was talking to Yui, and Reij’s attention turned to them, leaving me alone. I held onto Dad’s arm with both of mine. He laughed a little and finally looked over at me when I’d stared at him for a long time. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine, remember?” He said softly.

               His words reassured me for the time being. Reiji might be scary but pretty much all of dad’s brothers were on my side. Even Shu! And Shu was the eldest which means that he makes the rules. Shu secretly likes me. I had a feeling he did because he humored me a lot when no one else was around. Sometimes he even let me listen to his music! I kicked my feet, in a much better mood for the rest of the ride to school.

               Laito took me down to my classroom, stopping outside the door to crouch down in front of me. “Be good today, okay? No biting.” He had a smile on his face but the threat in his voice hit me hard. I had an issue of biting the other kids in my class, and then I’d get in lots of trouble because we didn’t leave human bite marks, instead my fang marks showed.

               “I won’t,” I said, hugging him tight. I never mean to bite them. They just make me so mad sometimes. Today was going to be different. Today I would be good and no one would be upset with me. “I promise!” Those humans were mean to me a lot but I’m a vampire so they’ll be dead waaay before me! So, it shouldn’t matter what they say to me. I just have to remember that when they’re teasing me…

              

              


	3. The School Incident

               I sat by the door, arms folded and a pout on my face. It’s all his fault! He attacked me! And there’s no way to prove that I did it. Even a bunch of other kids said I’d been in the reading center, which was true! So what if I can teleport quickly and get back before anyone saw. The classroom door swung open and Milo’s mom walked in, her too high heels clicked on the floor. As the teacher explained what happened, his mother started to get angry.

               “This keeps happening to him!” She yelled, stomping toward the teacher. “When is something going to be done about that little devil!  She’s bullying my son!”

               The door opened for a second time, made me sit up. Laito stared down at me quizzically. “Kisa, are you in trouble? What happened to your face?”

               “She did it!” Milo pointed his finger at me, still holding the ice pack to his forehead. He’s a big baby. It couldn’t hurt any worse than my own wound.

               Angry, I stood up. “I did not!”

               Laito grabbed me before I could do anything. Securely off the ground and in his arms, he turned to my teacher. “Did she do something wrong?” He cut off my protest with a stern look.

               “She did this to my son! What are you doing about her behavior? She’s terrorizing my son!” Milo’s mom said loudly. From behind her, Milo stuck his tongue out at me. He was always trying to hurt me. It’s not my fault that I’m a vampire and much stronger than he is.

               Asshole.

               Subaru called Ayato that sometimes he was angry at him. That’s how I felt about Milo right now. He’s going to get me in so much trouble with my dad!

               Laito smiled a little. “Kisa says she didn’t do it. I know when she’s lying.”

               He does? I dropped my gaze, getting a bad feeling. I don’t wanna be in trouble.

               “Mrs. Amano. Calm down, please. The door accidently unhinged and hit him, but that isn’t the only reason I called you. Milo brought a knife to school today, and he tried to harm Kisa. The cut on her face,” She paused, looking at me a little confused. “It looks much better than early, actually, but the school doctor had to stop the bleeding. Bringing a weapon to school is a very serious matter.”

               Wait, I’m not the one in trouble?

               Both Milo and his mom looked shocked. Forcing tears to my eyes, I started to cry. “It hurts!” Laying my head on my dad’s shoulder, I forced myself to continue to cry softly. This is so much better than when I’m the one who is in trouble!

               “I am very sorry this happened, Laito. It’s being dealt with I assure you,” The teacher said. “Kisa, I hope you’re feeling better soon, okay?”

               Suck up.

               “I don’t know. She could have been seriously, injured. I think I’ll keep her home tomorrow,” Laito said, patting my back. Tomorrow was Friday so that means I’d get a three-day weekend. That didn’t sound good. What did I do?

               With the situation resolved, we left the classroom to go to the car. Instead of teleporting, he walked silent. It didn’t seem right. Nervous, I stared at him. He stopped in a stairwell, looking at me. “Kisa, what did you do?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. When I looked away and didn’t answer, he continued. “Tell me what you did and maybe I won’t be too upset with you.”

               I twisted his tie in my hands, mumbling. “It’s his fault. He hurt me with that knife.”

               “That’s not what I asked.” The warning in his voice scared me.

               Real tears came to my eyes. “I… I just wanted to hurt him like he hurt me… but I didn’t want to get in trouble. All I did was move the doorstop…”

               Sighing, Laito patted my head. “We can discuss how that was wrong later. At least you didn’t bite anyone today.” The conversation ended there and he teleported us to the car. Everyone was already here, except for Yui and Ayato. What happened to them?

               Arriving at the house, Kanato snatched me away from my dad. “I’ll bring her back later.” Without so much as waiting for a response, we were down in his showroom. Dolls lined the room. Setting me down on the sofa, he stared at me for a moment before opening the closet. “What color do you want?”

               “Green!” I said excitedly. Green is my favorite color… I think. All the colors were pretty, though. The only one I didn’t like was white. White was what he used on the dolls. It didn’t feel like the right color for someone like me. I was much better than those stupid brides. They were all so special to Kanato though. One time, I’d even tried to destroy one when Kanato had ignored me. He got so mad at me…


	4. Dresses and Dinners

_I snuck into the showroom when I was sure no one would be in here. Of course, he isn’t in here! He’s too busy with that new girl. Everyone always forgets about me when a sacrificial bride comes to the house. He promised! He promised to play with me today. What’s so special about this girl? She’ll just end up a doll in this room. They all do! So why can’t Kanato be with me? I’m small like a doll, not like those things._

_The dolls were beautiful, like I’d remembered them. Usually, this room was off limits for me unless I came with Kanato. That rule didn’t bother me today. If he won’t dress me up, I’ll do it myself! The dresses that were for me were in the back. On the table laid a new doll, an incomplete one. Standing on my tiptoes, I inspected the dead girl. He spends so much time on them… Anger took over and I picked up the nearest sharp object. I could disfigure this one. Because they don’t heal like I do. They’re worthless! Humans are worthless! Squeezing the tool in my hand, I frowned._

_“KISA!” Kanato’s angry voice snapped me out of my state. “What do you think you’re doing?” The tool clattered on the floor and his hand clasped around my neck, raising me off the floor. The pure rage in his eyes sent a wave of fear through me. It must have had an effect on him, because he let go quickly. “Answer me.”_

_I fell onto the floor and stayed there. “It’s not fair! You promised!” Twisting my hands together in my lap, I sniffed. “I-I… I didn’t mean to make you mad. I just wanted…” Tears spilled over and I started to cry. They don’t like it when I cry. Sometimes it gets me out of trouble. “I’m s-sorry.”_

_It was silent for a moment, but Kanato sighed heavily, and patted my head. “Don’t do it ever again. I won’t forgive you next time.”_

 

I’d gotten away with a lot by crying and apologizing. For whatever reason, none of them knew how to deal with it, except for dad... he never fell for it. After that, I never came in here without permission. Only a few times had Kanato been truly furious with me, but I’d seen it happen with those girls and I never wanted to be on the receiving end of that rage again. Playing cute and innocent tended to work in my favor anyways.

Twisting side to side, the poofy bottom of the green dress swished the same direction. I giggled until Kanato tugged on one of my curls, a silent signal to stay still. He said we were almost done again, but it’s taking so long! I turned my head to look at him and the curler grazed my ear. “Ouch!” Tears spilled over and rolled down my cheeks. It’s hot!

               “Hold still, Kisa,” Kanato repeated, turning my head straight forward. Wrapping another strand of hair in the curler, he watched me through the mirror. “I wish you could stay little forever. You’re the perfect size for a doll.”

               I grinned and swung my arms. “Me too. I don’t ever wanna get big!”

               Kanato tilted his head to the side in thought. “Maybe I can arrange that.” Then he sighed and shook his head, mumbling under his breath. “Eyes closed.” The hairspray fragrance filled the air as he lightly coated my bouncy curls. Spinning me around, he sprayed the front and then wiped the tears off my cheeks. “All done.”

                Twirling in circles, I smiled, and watched in the mirror. I’m so pretty! The fun could have gone on for longer, but my view became blocked by Reiji. Stumbling back, I fell but Kanato caught me in his arms.

               “It is time for dinner,” Reiji announced, folding his arms with a displeased look. His harsh gaze remained on me for what felt like forever. “I do not approve of you spoiling her after she harmed a student in her classroom, Kanato. But it is Laito’s fault for not dealing with her. What she needs is a thorough punishment.”

               Kanato pulled me closer, glaring at Reiji. “She isn’t yours.” There was always some kind of tension in the house. He held me tight until Reiji had left. Resting his chin on my shoulder, Kanato sighed. “Let’s go,” Teleporting us without any warning, Kanato left my side when we were in the dining room.

               That girl is back.

               She had taken Ayato’s chair at the end of the table, and Ayato was in mine! The only available chairs were either in front of Reiji or between Shu and Subaru. I chose the safer chair. Climbing up, I sat on my knees, staring at the blonde girl. She would glance at me every now and then but seemed too scared to actually speak. Frowning, I started to ask her a question. “Why-”

               “Leave it alone, Kisa. It’s not anything you need to know about,” Ayato cut me off. He was directly in front of me and had a stern look. It would get me in trouble to say anything else.

               Annoyed, I sat back on my heels. Why is everyone so mean when it comes to these brides? I just wanted to know why she was so quiet. At least the other ones would talk. Stabbing my fork into one of the squares of steak, I still watched her. She isn’t eating either… her attention stayed on Shu.

               Shu always hated these dinners. He never touched the food and would skip out early. Sometimes I wanted to go with him, but my dad wouldn’t let me… and of course, Reiji would be mad at me, too. Her attention was taken when Laito started talking to her. In that brief window of time, Shu cracked his eyes open and gave me a flash of a smirk. It made me giggle to myself. Shu is funny.

               As soon as he’d done that, he stood and said, “I can’t be bothered with this.”

               It made me laugh a little. He does this every time we have a meal together. Reiji made a comment about children being spoiled and shot me a stern look. I shrank back in my chair and tried to hide behind Subaru. Maybe if he can’t see me… Thankfully, he said we could leave and I didn’t waste any time lingering. Skipping down the hallway to my bedroom, I hummed to myself. I’d completely forgotten about today, until…

               “Kisa, let’s go,” Laito appeared in front of me, holding onto my arm. He didn’t look so happy.

               I scuffed my foot on the ground. “Go where?”

               Laito shook his head. “You can play innocent with them all you like, but it doesn’t work on me. I told you that we’d talk about what you did today. Do I need to make you obey?”

               It was my turn to shake my head in response. “N-no.” I shouldn’t make any more trouble for myself than I already had. Out of all the brothers, my dad was the most fun. The girls always said so, and I knew it for myself. But… he wasn’t lenient with punishment when I did something wrong. It wasn’t traditional punishment, like Reiji liked. One example, would be when I bite at school, sometimes I had to spend two days in the dungeon downstairs. It’s dark and scary, and if it had been really bad, we also had an iron maiden down there too. But today, we went outside, and down an unfamiliar path. This part of the woods, I wasn’t allowed in. It was deemed dangerous for me. So, why go here now?


	5. Punishments and Lessons

               Silence.

               Dad had a tight grip on my wrist, leading me deeper into the woods. He hadn’t even made one glance at me, and that made me a little more scared. The tree line ended and there was a large church building. This place… I think I’ve seen it before. At least, I’ve been told not to go near here. It’s dangerous. I’d been told never to come here. So then, why…

               It was dark inside the building, except for the moonlight spilling in the large stain-glass windows. Pews lined the large room on either side, leaving a carpeted path down the middle to a large alter. Laito released my wrist and put his hand on back, pushing me forward till we reached the front. “Do you remember why you shouldn’t come here?”

               “Because bad people are here,” I answered.

               “They aren’t just bad people. They want to hurt you. They hate vampires. Do you understand that?” He asked.

               Hate vampires? Why? We’re better than humans in every way. Shouldn’t they want to be like us? Chewing on my lip, I thought hard about the question. Maybe if I say yes, we’ll go home. This place is scary. When I turned my head up to say it, Laito grabbed my chin tight and leaned down close to me. “No, you don’t. That’s why you keep doing bad things at school. You don’t understand the consequences of your actions.”

               My whole body tensed up. I must be in a lot of trouble. “I-I…” What am I supposed to say? Everything feels jumbled up in my head. Rarely did I see this side of my dad. A spark of anger ignited. Pulling back so hard that I fell down, I kept my head down, staring at my lap. “It’s his fault! He started it! It’s not my fault!” Blame that stupid human boy!

               Laito crouched down, raising an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe that you didn’t do something to deserve it?” He waited for a moment for me to reply. When I didn’t, he reached out and slid his hand through my hair on top of my head, before tightly gripping my hair.

               “That hurts!” I whimpered, trying to pry his hand out of my hair. I had no choice but to follow Laito down the isle to the front of the sanctuary. With one quick jerk, I’d been pulled forward and I almost knocked into the large metal alter. Sticking my hands out to stop the impact, I immediately pulled them back, looking at my burnt palms.

               “This entire thing is made of silver,” Laito opened the top, hooking his arm around my waist and hoisting me up. “If these people were to find out you’re a vampire, you’d be locked up in it.”

               The very real possibility of him forcing me in it hit me hard. I pushed my feet against the side, struggling to break free from his grip. “No! I don’t want to!” Tears sprang to my eyes, this time it was pure fear. Kicking my legs and pushing his arm with both my hands, I tried to get loose. “I want to go home!”

               “They won’t care that you’re scared, Kisa. All they see is a creature that should be destroyed.” Laito kept a hold of me, teleporting us to another room in the building. He dropped me in a wooden chair, but not a normal one. Securing my arms on the chair arms, silver cuffs locked me into it, sending a wave of burning pain through my skin.

               Silver was one of the only items that could truly harm a vampire. That had been something I’d learned a while ago. Subaru has a silver knife in his room and told me never to touch it. More tears spilled over and my fit of fear got worse. Trying to pull loose did no good. I’m not strong enough to break this chair, either. My crying turned into screaming. “Let me go! Let me go!”

               “Quit screaming or I’ll leave you here,” His tone made me quiet down. Leaning on his arms on the top of the chair from behind me, he just watched for a few moments before speaking. “You can’t get out yourself, can you?”

               Shaking my head, I still tried to pry my arms free. Dropping my head down and letting a small sob escape my lips, I started to say anything that might let me free. “I-I’m sorry! Please let me out! I-I won’t-”

               “Kisa.”

               I bit my lip to keep from crying more. Quiet. I’m supposed to be quiet right now. My whole body trembled in pain and fear. The cuffs were tight, and the silver grew hotter by the minute, sending radiating pain through me. This room must be underground. It smelled musty. My other senses were taking over in the quiet.

               After a few moments that went by slowly, when I titled my head back to look up at my dad, he still looked angry. Sighing, Laito set his chin on his hand, that was propped up by his elbow. “You don’t have your full abilities, not until you’re an adult vampire. Even then, there’s no guarantee that you could break out of those cuffs. What would you do if those humans were the ones to put you in this chair?”

               My eyes grew wider at the question. “I don’t know.”

               “Think about that the next time you want to use what little powers you have in school,” Laito said, taking one of my curls and twisting it around between his fingers. “You’re little crying act that works on everyone else, won’t phase these humans. They don’t see a scared little girl. To them, you’re a monster.”

               I went quiet, really trying to puzzle out what all of that meant. Though most of my punishments were scary and sometimes painful, he’s never done it just to hurt me. There’s always a reason. Sometimes it takes longer for me to realize what it is. A terrifying thought crossed my mind. “C-could they kill me?”

               No way. Vampires are so hard to kill! That’s why we are the better species!

               “Yes, those cabinets over there have silver knives in them.”

               I twisted around in my seat the best I could to look back at the large cabinets lining the walls. Wincing as the silver found unburned skin to scorch, I recoiled in the seat. “Subaru has a silver knife.”

               Laito laughed at my comment. “Subaru isn’t going to hurt you. Do you understand why we’re here?”

               I chewed on my lip in thought. “Humans are afraid of us.”

               “That isn’t what I asked, Kisa.”

               I shrunk down in the chair at his tone. Sticking out my bottom lip in a pout, I mumbled, “I have to be good or these humans might try to kill me.” That’s what this is about, right? Humans are fragile creatures. Kanato says that all the time when he’s fixing up his dolls.

               Sighing once more, Laito took the key and released me from the chair. “You’d better come up with a better answer by the time you get home, little girl.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked toward the door, only looking back to say one last thing. “Get moving. They’ll be here for a service soon.” With that, he teleported out of the room.

               Morning is already here?

                All alone, I hugged myself. He’s going to make me walk home? Since I still don’t have my teleportation skills quite figured out, crossing big distances was a problem for me. If I tried, I could end up stuck in a tree or something. Climbing the long staircase up to the main floor, I thought about what I should say when I get back. My answer wasn’t enough. The scent of human filled my nose and my head snapped up to see a little boy, around my age lingering in the doorway to the sanctuary. Our eyes met and my whole body froze, one solid feeling rising up.

               Danger.


	6. The Christmas Debacle (Christmas Special) Part 1

The Christmas Debacle Part 1

 

All the kids in my class were discussing this new holiday that I hadn’t heard of before. Since this was my first time in school and being around humans, I had to pretend to understand what they were talking about. Even the teachers seemed to be invested in this holiday. My teacher, especially. She brought in decorations, lights, and even a tiny green tree that sat on her desk. Most of the colors were red and green. It had gone on for a while. This must be a big human holiday.

               Today, we’d spent the whole day talking about this fat guy with a white beard named Santa. My teacher wanted me to write a letter to him, to ask for a present for Christmas. At the end of the assignment, I still couldn’t figure it out, so I hadn’t written anything on my paper. My teacher sent the kids to do Christmas art, like making candy canes and ornaments, and then sat down with me at the table. She tried to give me ideas on what I might want for Santa to bring me.

               “Isn’t there anything you want for Christmas?” She asked after the final bell rang and parents came to pick up their kids. She’d made me sit at the table, intent on me doing this assignment. From what I’d picked up, it seemed like a holiday for selfish people. “Kisa, you have to do the assignment.”

               I stared at my paper, gripping the hem of my dress with both hands. “I don’t know what it means.”

               She sighed. “You said that earlier, too. I explained the assignment multiple times. If you still refuse to do it, then I’ll have no choice but to give you a bad grade.”

               “Is there a problem?” Reiji asked, standing in the doorway. He pushed some tinsel out of the way to enter the room.

               My teacher seemed relieved to see him, since Reiji usually took her side any time I was in trouble. She tried to smile like it was okay. “She doesn’t seem to want to do this Christmas assignment, and even though I’ve explained it many times, Kisa says she doesn’t understand it. Maybe you can convince her to do it.”

               Reiji sighed, adjusting his glasses. “We do not celebrate Christmas. This is the first time she’s ever heard of the holiday. She’ll require a different assignment to take the place of the holiday ones.” He took my coat off my hook by the door. “It’s time to go, Kisa.”

               I’d never seen my teacher look so lost for words. Slipping out of my chair, I put on my jacket and tried to button it myself. My teacher stuttered over her words. Apparently on Monday I’d be getting new assignments to replace the Christmas ones. She apologized to me as we left the classroom, giving me a pitiful look.

               Whenever Reiji picked me up from class, we were always the first ones to the car. Sitting on the seat beside him, I stared at my lap, chewing on my lip. This Christmas situation had me puzzled. It must not be important to us, since no one had told me about it. But, there were pretty lights and the Christmas tree in the lobby of the school had shiny ornaments and a bright star on top. Gathering all the courage I had, I sat up on my knees on the seat. “Reiji?”

               His sharp eyes moved from his open book to me.

               “Why don’t we celebrate Christmas?” I asked, slightly afraid that the question might get me in trouble.

               The car was quiet for a moment, but Reiji closed his book and set it aside. “Christmas is a religious holiday, made up by humans in order to hide their greedy desires.” My confused expression made him sigh. “Humans buy gifts and have big dinner parties, in order to prove their affection for each other. It’s a waste of money and time.”

               I nodded my head, kind of getting the idea. “Who is Santa?”

               With a judgmental eye-roll, Reiji said, “A make believe person who climbs down the chimney to deliver presents to good children. Humans use him in order to make their children behave for the season.”

               “He’s creepy. Who wants an old fat man coming into their house in the middle of the night?” I asked. An arm wrapped around my waist and I was moved from the seat into Kanato’s lap, squished between him and his teddy. “Christmas trees are pretty though.”

               “It’s just another mess to clean up,” Reiji replied, clearly against the idea of having one. He returned to his book.

               Once home, I had formulated my plan to get a Christmas tree. Reiji runs the house most of the time, always cleaning and making up new rules to get me into trouble. Over the last few years, I’d found out that Shu was actually the oldest, which means he’s really the one in charge. If I can convince Shu… maybe we can get a Christmas tree and decorate it!

               Shu had decided to take a nap on the large couch in the game room, laying on his side. He always had his headphones on. Why Shu liked to sleep so much, I didn’t know. He took his time acknowledging my presence in the room. After a while, he cracked his eyes open and stared back at me.

               “I want a Christmas Tree,” I said.

               Shu reached out and pulled me onto the couch with him, wrapping both arms around me tightly, and smothering me in his oversized sweater. It made me giggle and snuggle up closer with him. “Should I even ask what brought this on?” He asked, closing his eyes again, satisfied that he had me trapped.

               His hold on me pressed my face into his chest so all my words came out muffled. It only resulted in making me laugh harder and struggle to get loose enough to speak. Every time I almost made it, Shu adjusted his body to trap me again. “Shu!”

               “We don’t celebrate that human holiday,” he said, releasing me enough that I could look up at him. His blue eyes were filled with amusement. This side of Shu rarely came out, and only when we were alone. It felt like a secret we shared.

               “I know, but it’s just a tree! Please, pretty please! I want to decorate one,” I stuck out my bottom lip in a plea of cuteness.

               Shu entrapped me again in his arms and rested his chin on my head, silent for a moment. “I suppose you could get a Christmas tree if you want. You’ll have to convince someone else to go with you to buy it.”

               I wiggled free, standing on the edge of the couch and grinning. “I can do that! Thank you thank you thank you!” 

               Shu shook his head with a smile and closed his eyes. “Go on, then. I’ll come see your finished product.”

               With the blessing of the eldest of my uncles, I skipped out of the room. Tapping my finger on my chin, I debated who to ask. I wandered the house, finding myself outside in the garden. The moonlight shined brightly in the night sky, lighting up the white roses. Finding my choice, I ran forward, latching my arms around one of Subaru’s legs.

               He growled and grabbed the back of my dress. “Get off me.”

               Holding on as best I could, I gave him my best sad eyes and pleading look. “B-but Shu said we have to go get a tree!” Sometimes it was hard to get Subaru to do what I wanted, but he couldn’t resist my sad eyes.

               Subaru jerked hard, lifting me off the ground and narrowing his eyes at me. “A tree?”

               “A Christmas tree!” I said, excitedly.

               Subaru seemed put off by the idea of having to take me out to pick out a tree. With my big, sad eyes, I could see it working. He didn’t want to, but when I teared up, Subaru set me down on my feet and turned back toward the house, only taking three steps before making an angry noise and running his hand through his hair. Sending me an annoyed glare, he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

               “Hurry up before I change my mind.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Merry Christmas Everyone! I wish everyone the best this holiday season! Thank you so much for your continued support of my works! Part two should be coming out today, but with the holiday day being so busy, I wanted to make sure I at least gave you part one as a Christmas Present! 
> 
> *On my fanfiction.net page: https://www.fanfiction.net/~moriartyswife*  
> Also, I am opening a poll for the possibility of having a story similar to this one (The Little Vampire, not just the Christmas special xD) but in the Mukami household with either Ruki or Kou or both! Please go check it out and vote on if you’d like that or not! It is located at the top of my profile page on Fanfiction.net.
> 
> Or leave a comment down below on your thoughts of that story idea! 
> 
> Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!


	7. The Christmas Debacle (Christmas Special) Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A /N: Oh my goodness. First of all, apologies for being so freaking late with this chapter! Christmas is busy and then I went back to my full-time job. Secondly, this chapter is long. Longer than any other chapter I've probably posted on this website. I typically keep them at about the 1,000 range, with 1,500 being a high number. The next chapter will return to the storyline left off in Chapter 5! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Years!
> 
> Don't forget there is a poll open on the top of my profile page on Fanfiction.net for a similar idea to this story, only it's set in the Mukami Household! Or you can leave a comment on your thoughts of this idea!

This store is huge! The crowd of people amazed me as well as all the Christmas decorations that were all around. There was a huge blow up reindeer, all kinds of lights of varying colors, and shiny ornaments. It all shimmered in the bright florescent lights. A tight grip on the back of my jacket stopped my wandering around. Titling my head back, I looked at Subaru. "It's all so pretty!"

He frowned, pulling me out of the way of a passing cart. Irritation showed on his features. "Don't get lost in here, Kisa. Pick a tree and let's go home." Keeping ahold of me, Subaru followed me around the building. We weren't alone. A house staff member had come along to help get everything I wanted.

The crowd of people thickened as we got closer to the back of the store. From above their heads, I could see the tops of green trees. In my hurry to get closer, I slipped free from Subaru and weaved my way through the crowd, ignoring Subaru angrily say my name. The trees up close were so tall! "Whoa…" A medium sized tree caught my attention, because it had a shiny red star on top. This is the one I want…

"What a cute little girl," A wrinkly old lady cooed from beside me. She smelled of dust and cheap perfume. Her hand me down purse in her cart was a rusted pink. "Are you shopping for a tree? Where are your parents?" She used her cart as a cane to hobble closer to me. "Are you lost?"

Heads turned at those words. People began to mumble around me, speaking about me like I wasn't there. _Should we find a worker? Can someone take her to customer service?_ A younger lady approached me and bent down. "Let's go up front and someone that works here can put a call out to your mommy or daddy. Okay?" She reached out to take my hand.

"N-no!" I took a step back from her. Humans can't be trusted. They could take me away from here.

She smiled sweetly at me. "It's okay. I'm going to help you." She lifted me off the ground and into her arms. "What's your name, sweetie?"

I struggled to be free of her. Searching the crowd of people for Subaru or one of our house workers, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "Put me down!" I shouted, kicking my legs hard, hard enough to strike the lady with the force of a grown adult human. I tumbled to the ground. "Ouch."

She held her stomach, with wide eyes.

"Kisa!" Subaru's angry voice cut through the murmurs. He stopped behind me, his eyes filled with a mixture of concern and pure anger. It didn't seem to be directly at me, though. He turned his gaze from me to the lady that I'd kicked. "She doesn't need your help."

Climbing to my feet, I reached my arms up for him to pick me up, nervously looking over my shoulder to see the woman behind me. Her shocked features turned into a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to—"

"Don't ever touch her again," Subaru snapped, giving into my attempts to climb him in order to be held. With my arms securely around his neck, he waited until the attention had gone off us to attempt to pry me off him. Gripping the back of my shirt, he gave a big tug and I couldn't keep my grip on him. "Why are you acting all clingy when you're the one who wandered off after I told you not to. When Laito-"

"No! Please don't tell him! I'll be in trouble!" I whined, trying to hug him again, but not being able to overpower him. "Please! I won't do it again!" Sticking my bottom lip out in an attempt to be cute, I forced more tears to my eyes. "Pretty please, Subaru! I'll be good."

Subaru rolled his eyes. "Just pick a tree so we can go home."

Twisting around in his arms, I pointed to the one right next to us. "This one! I want this one!"

He sighed, relieved to be getting out of this building. "The staff will buy it and get you decorations for it. Let's go."

The second we got home, Subaru abandoned me. The boxes of decorations were set by the tree, and I was all alone. Attempting to pull the box lid open failed. How am I supposed to do this by myself?

"What did you do?" Ayato asked, sitting in the chair on the right side of the couch.

"Ayato!" Running over to the chair he was in, I grinned and pointed to the large tree. "Shu said I could get a Christmas tree!"

Ayato laughed and nodded. "I see that. We don't celebrate Christmas, Kisa. That's a human holiday."

I placed my hands on my hips. "We don't celebrate anything! And I know that this holiday is supposed to be religious one, but Reiji said that the tree doesn't really mean that much to the crazy humans, so I asked Shu if I could get one and he said yes!"

"Who went to get it?"

"I did! With Subaru!" I said, leaning over the edge of the of the arm of the chair. Swinging my body a little over the arm, I giggled.

Ayato pulled me by the back of my shirt into his lap. "Spoiled little brat." Tickling my sides, he kept me trapped.

My giggled turned into uncontrollably laughter as I tried to wiggle free. "A-A-Ayato! Let m-me go!"

But he didn't. Instead, as I tried to get away, Ayato lifted me up, pulling my back against him to have a better hold on me. "Oh no. You're being too annoying, so I have to punish you, Kisa." Continuing his assault of tickling me, Ayato turned his head to look back at Kanato. "Is she annoying you too?"

"K-Kanato! Help me!" My whole body ached from laughing so hard.

Ayato shook his head and grabbed my arms, lifting them up. "Yeah, help her," he said sarcastically. It wasn't fair that they were so much stronger than me! That lady I had kicked early probably had a broken rib from my strength, but it was nothing compared to Ayato's. "Come on, Kanato, she's annoying so she has to be punished."

Kanato set his teddy down on the little coffee table and bent down to be eye level with me. "He means you're too cute, Kisa. So much at times that he wants to hurt you. I get that way, too." He wiped the tears off my cheeks and had an unreadable expression.

Then it hit me, and my eyes went wide. "I bought you something! Candy Canes and chocolate! They had lots in the isles at the store and I wanted to get it for you!" With the sweetest smile I could do, I watched him. While Subaru was easily manipulated with tears and pouts, Kanato was easily swayed by bribes of candy.

"Dammit. You've won," Ayato sighed and let go of me when Kanato snatched me up.

Kanato ignored his teddy, content with having me in his arms and smiled at me. "I'm going to keep you forever, Kisa."

I giggled and reached up to play with a loose strand of his hair. It's purple and I like it a lot! "Forever and ever!" Dad would be angry if he heard that because he always tells me that I'm his, and only his. But… making Kanato mad right now wouldn't help my cause. I want him to help me decorate the tree, because I'm not tall enough to reach the higher branches.

Sharing my candy with him and sweet talking Ayato succeeded in making them both assist in putting the candy canes, garland, and ornaments on the huge tree. When we were all finished, Ayato plugged the cord into the socket, lighting up the tree with white lights. The multicolored ones that I'd seen at school weren't as pretty as these white ones. My eyes grew big as I stared at the pretty tree.

"Not so bad, Kisa," Shu commented from the large couch, once again stretched out across the length of it.

I grinned, proud of how good I'd done. "I want to show daddy."

"Kisa, no-" Ayato said, but I had already teleported up to the room.

The lights were off, and the girl that the church dropped off was making weird noises. "L-Laito, stop! That's not what I want," she whined, and the sheets twisted with her movements. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me standing by the bed. "Kisa! You shouldn't be in here, sweetie." Her words were shaky and insincere.

I titled my head to the side. "Why? It's just love right? Some day when I'm big, daddy's gonna love me, too." What's so wrong about love? To my uncles, they always told me it was just a word the humans used to describe an imaginary feeling. Dad says he loves me and I know that he calls this love, whatever the girl and him are doing. It only makes sense that one day I'd be loved just as much.

Laito's attention turned from the squirming bride to me. For a moment, it almost looked like I had said something wrong, but he smiled at me. "I do love you, Kisa."

"Not like that." I pointed to the girl. This is confusing.

He laughed and nodded his head. "You're right. Maybe one day you'll understand. Did you need me for something?" It was clear that whatever I wanted would not outweigh this.

Excitement bubbled up in me and I grinned. "Yeah! Come down to the den! Shu let me buy something!" Can't ruin the surprise! It made me happy just to think about the tree and how pretty it looks with all the colors and sparkly ornaments.

"When I'm finished. Go on," Laito pointed toward the door.

I frowned in disappointment. "But-" One stern look from him was enough to silence me. Scuffing my foot on the floor, I chewed on my lip. Crying won't do any good. It would probably get me into real trouble and I'll be punished. Pouting, I teleported back down to the den. To make matters worse, Reiji stood in the room with his arms folded and a very unhappy expression.

"What is the meaning of this mess?" He asked, knowing that it had been my idea. Though Shu still laid on the couch, Reiji's attention had zeroed in on me.

I shrank back, prepared to leave quick. It won't do me any good. I poked my index fingers together and stared at the floor. "I… I wanted a tree…"

Reiji sighed, clearly annoyed with me. "And who is going to clean up all these boxes and take it down after you've grown bored of it? It's not as if you've ever been made to clean up after yourself when you make decisions on a whim."

"The staff will take it down. You're being too loud, I'm trying to enjoy my music in the room with the tree Kisa worked so hard to decorate," Shu said from the couch. For once, he'd opened his eyes and almost asked for a challenge from Reiji. It was a rare sight.

The whole room was quiet for a long time. Reiji folded his arms and returned his gaze to me. "One day, they'll regret spoiling you so much. I already know how troublesome you will become." It only took a few more moments until he gave in and went away.

I nearly screamed when someone wrapped their arm around my waist and hoisted me up, but my body relaxed because it was Laito. He brushed back my hair out of my face. "Why do you look so sad when someone let you get a huge tree?"

Reiji was the only one who truly scared me. He always said things like. It had become clear to me that he didn't like me. He calls me spoiled a lot, like Ayato does, but it doesn't sound like the same thing. It sounds like a bad thing when Reiji says it. Tears filled my eyes. "Reiji is mad."

Laito laughed, squeezing me tight. "You have no reason to be afraid of Reiji, Kisa. And your tree is very beautiful." His compliment made me happy and the scared feelings melted away.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yes, you did a very a good job," He replied, giving an approving nod.

I grinned, extremely happy. "I love you!" I kissed his cheek and wrapped my arms around his neck. That girl wouldn't last long. She would go away like all the other ones. Humans were fragile like that. I'm the only girl who will ever be around forever. My eyes sparkled with the lights of the Christmas tree. Love is a strange word, but there are two things I know about it: 1: I love my dad more than anyone in the whole world. 2. I love my Christmas tree, even though it's from a holiday we don't celebrate, because it's something I can fully love right now. And one day, maybe I'll have the same feeling with my dad.

 


	8. A New Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey Everyone! I apologize deeply for the lack of updates recently! I’ve had Walking Pneumonia twice and a stomach bug over the past month and half, and so that has put me out of commission, along with using up all my reserve chapter updates! I’m working hard to get back into the groove and provide more chapters! Thanks for your patience and for loving my story!

               The young boy and I stared at each other for a while. S-should I teleport out of here? No. That’s a bad choice. The humans could put me back in that chair and hurt me. I don’t want that. So, instead, I stood there, frozen with fear. What do I do? Tears welled up in my eyes.

               “Are you new here?” He asked, casting a glance back toward the sanctuary. Voices could be heard discussing songs to sing for the service. “I know this place can be scary when you’re all alone.” He took a step toward me, seemingly unaware of what I am.

               I should treat him like I do the kids at school. They don’t know I’m a vampire, so he shouldn’t either. “I have to go home,” My voice came out a whisper. Staying here much longer could put me in a lot more danger. The adults might know… since they have a torture chamber in their basement. I wanted to be brave, but my fear made me take a step back away from him.

               The boy nodded his head and held out his hand. “My name is Kyo. What’s yours?”

               “Kisa,” I replied, keeping my distance from him. He doesn’t seem so dangerous...

               Kyo grinned, showing that he was missing a front tooth. “Kisa… It’s pretty. Do you live nearby?” When I nodded, he pointed back toward the sanctuary. “My parents could drive you ho—Wait!”

Taking a deep breath, I could smell fresh air. A door must be propped open nearby! Turning on my heel I darted down the nearby hallway. I can’t let them take me. His parents could discover that I’m a vampire and hurt me! Finding the exit, I teleported from the building to the tree line nearby.

From there, I ran as fast as I could. Teleporting is tiring, and I don’t want to get stuck in a tree. Home should be this way. My head turned at the sound of crunching leaves behind me. Kyo was following but couldn’t keep up. His breaths were ragged. Still a good distance away, I turned to face him.

“Kisa, no! You shouldn’t go that way!” He shouted, holding out his hand as if to stop me. Kyo tripped over at tree root and hit the ground with a thud. It took him a moment to shakily get back up on his feet.  “My momma says there are evil vampires who live in this direction!” The worry in his tone didn’t hide the hatred underneath those words.

I tensed up, because of his words and the smell of his blood. “Evil vampires?” We aren’t evil! Humans are just beneath us! We don’t have to live by their rules because we’re better than them! I chewed on my lip. His blood had a unique smell, and I wanted to taste it, but that’s a bad choice. I’ll be in even more trouble if I bite a human now…

Kyo nodded his head, hesitant to move forward anymore, like an invisible line had been drawn through the forest. “They live near here and like to drink little children’s blood and then eat the rest of them! It’s not safe for you in there.”

“I live this way,” I answered. We’ve never had a child in the house except for me. Where did he hear a crazy thing like that? Licking my lips, my craving for his blood became stronger. Just a little taste won’t hurt anyone, right?

“You must be on the other side, then. I guess I won’t be able to talk you out of going this way. Just, please be careful. Can we meet here tomorrow? I… would like to talk to you some more,” Kyo said, smiling softly to himself.

               “What would we talk about?” I don’t have anything in common with a human. They’re boring.

               Kyo was quiet for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in thought. “Do you go to school? O-Or do you have any siblings?”

               The sun peaked up over the horizon. I need to get home soon. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Meet me here at dusk,” I replied with a smile. Turning, I disappeared from his sight into the trees. Maybe it would be good to study humans. If I can learn how to act better, I won’t get in so much trouble and Dad will be happy with me!

               “See you tomorrow, Kisa!” Kyo called after me with a happy tone.

               Home wasn’t so hard to find from where I was. The trees opened up to the small lake we had, which told me that I had made it back to our land. Following the path that led back to the house, I hummed to myself, happy that I’d found out how easy it was to befriend and manipulate human boys. If he didn’t know that I’m a vampire, I could use him to do all sorts of things, like bring me presents!

               Reiji stood at the front door with a frown on his face. Uh oh. That isn’t good. “Honestly, he could have proven his point here. Leaving a child in a place like that could expose all of us. Kisa, come with me.” He held the door open long enough for me to slip inside.

               Am I in trouble again?

               “Sit,” Reiji pointed to a chair at the dining room table and he disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. He returned with a glass of blood, setting in on the table in front of me. “Drink this. You’re eyes are red, so you encountered a human who was bleeding. Did they see you?”

               If I tell him about Kyo, he might make me stay away from there. With a shake of my head, I replied, “No, they were in the big sanctuary and I got out through the back door. I could smell someone’s blood, though.” Holding the glass in both hands, I took big sips of the blood. It had been warmed up and tasted delicious. My worry now was that Kyo might have seen my red eyes. He wouldn’t have agreed to see me again if he had, right? Humans are scared of us.

               Reiji pulled up a chair beside me, pulling the glass away from my lips. “Slow down, and let me see your wrists.” Setting the cup on the table again, he took my hands in his to examine the burn marks on my skin. “These shouldn’t leave any marks, but I’ll still bandage them.”

               I watched him take the white bandages and start to wrap my left wrist. Taking another big gulp of blood, I titled my head to the side. “Are all humans stupid?” Reiji knows a lot, and studies lots of different things, so he would know if humans are like that.

               A rare smile grew on his face. “Relatively speaking, yes, I’d say they are. When did you come to that conclusion?”

               “Milo has no idea that I’m a vampire, and I could kill him. And I could, couldn’t I? Even though he’s a boy and I’m still not big, I’m better and stronger than him.” Without the powers of an adult vampire, I could still cause a lot of damage if I wanted to, at least, that’s what I understood.

               Reiji switched to my other wrist but paused to look at me. “We don’t go around just killing humans randomly and without restraint. That causes problems.”

               I nodded my head. “Like bad people coming to our house and they might try to hurt us, even though they can’t really… unless they have silver… and…” I paused, confusing myself with my own logic. Reiji didn’t try to correct me or fill in the information I was trying to figure out, instead going back to wrapping my wrist. “If… If humans are so weak, and we’re so strong… then humans fear us if they know that we’re vampires. And then… fear would make them want to hurt us, because they see that humans aren’t the greatest species. So… then we keep it a secret, so that the humans remain stupid and unaware.”

               Reiji finished, and stood from his chair. “You’d do well to remember that the next time you want to harm anyone in your class.” He took the empty glass and went back to the kitchen.

               I slid out of the chair, intent on going straight upstairs, but Laito stood at the entrance to the dining room. I ran over, leaping up into his arm and wrapping my arms and legs around him, hugging him tightly. “I’m sorry for hurting Milo, and not being good,” I said. Pulling back to smile at him, I continued, “A-and I know I can’t let anyone know that I’m vampire because humans are scared of us because they’re stupid, and weak. That makes them want to hurt us because of their fear.”

               He sighed but smiled with a nod. “I’ll take it. Since you concluded that on your own, I’ll still let you skip school tomorrow. But it’s time for you to go to bed.” Teleporting us up to my bedroom, the sun spilled in through the curtains that had been pulled back.

               I frowned and rocked back and forth in his arms. “But I wanna take a bath first!” I liked baths. They were warm and bubbly!

               Laito shook his head, setting me down on the bed. “Not right now.” Pulling open the top drawer of my dresser, he took out a set of pajamas. “Arms up,” he said, pulling my shirt over my head.

               Choosing not to argue, I settled under the covers in my comfy pjs. It took some convincing, but I talked him into staying with me. I snuggled up against him and closed my eyes. There was still a dull pain in my wrists from the burns the silver made, but right now, I was happy. Learning to be a good vampire was harder than I thought it would be, because that meant acting like a human sometimes. Kyo would be a good person to learn from. I’d just have to be careful not to get caught.

              


	9. The First Bite

               The sun still peeked through my curtains, casting a ray right across my eyes. Squirming around under the sheets until I had successfully turned all the way over, I sniffed. There’s a sweet smell in the air. At first, I thought it might be Kanato and something yummy like chocolate, but it wasn’t. Another deep breath told me that the smell was blood. Slipping out of my covers, I pulled my door open.

               The girl, Yui, struggled against Ayato. He had her pinned to the wall, holding both her wrists above her head with one hand. The other sliding around her waist to pull her closer. Her blood wafted through the hallway as Ayato drank from her neck. Her fearful eyes met mine. “K-Kisa!” Is she embarrassed? She should be happy that Ayato likes her enough to play with her.

               Ayato lazily raised his head, turning to look at me. “Did we wake you up?” He asked.

               “Her blood,” I answered, rubbing my eyes with the backs of hands.

               The hallway was silent, save for Yui’s soft breaths. “Kisa, come here,” Ayato said, an amused light in his eyes. He held out his hand, beckoning me over. My hesitance only made him laugh. It’s strange for him to be so playful this early in the day. Like Subaru, he’s grumpy during daylight hours.

               But, I knew better than to ignore him. When I was in reach, Ayato scooped me up, holding me between the two of them, nowhere to escape. “Now, this is fun, isn’t it, pancake? You’re going to help Kisa out.”

               I pushed my hands against her chest, understanding what he meant. “Ayato, I don’t want to,” I said, my voice cracking. My entire throat was dry. Her blood that trickled out of the bite marks Ayato had left was strong. Twisting around to look up at him, I frowned.

               “I didn’t ask if you wanted to,” Ayato replied, petting the top of my head. “Aren’t you grateful that I’m allowing you to drink her blood? She does belong to me.” There was a challenge in his tone. The sly smirk on his lips grew as he watched his words sink in.

               Allowing. That word comes up a lot in this house. Allowing me to live here. Allowing me to drink blood. Allowing me to be alive. I chewed on my lip. After last night… I definitely didn’t want to have another punishment. Ayato liked to be mean sometimes, just because he’s bigger than me. Turning my head to watch the human girl again, I said, “O-Okay.”

               Ayato laughed loudly. “That’s a good girl. This will be good for both of us, Kisa. You need to practice biting a human, and the expressions on pancake’s face will be quite the entertainment.” Grabbing her chin tightly, he jerked her head to the side. “Did you know that young vampires have the sharpest fangs? It’s because they don’t have the strength to bite hard enough to break the skin on their own.”

               I watched in amazement. Yui’s eyes grew wide with fear. It was fascinating. My interactions with the sacrificial brides had always been limited, and never had I actually drank from them. Reiji would draw blood and store it for when I needed it. I had seen it from a distance. Their struggle. Their cries for help. Up close, it made me feel good.

               “See that, Kisa. She’s afraid of you.” Ayato dropped his head to whisper into my ear. “She’s afraid because even though you’re small, you are still the superior species. It’s intoxicating, isn’t it? Her trembling body. The short breaths she takes to keep from hyperventilating. Her heart pounding in her chest, sending that sweet blood racing through her body. Go on. Drink her blood, Kisa.” 

               For the first time ever, I wanted to do it. I had always shied away from humans, feelings of my own kind of fear. In this moment, however, all the killer instincts inside me began to bubble up. The things Ayato had pointed out, that I had never noticed before, were pulling my attention. I traced my fingers over her chest where her heart is, and it was thumping in her chest so hard.

               “Stop!” She squeaked. Trying to free herself, she pushed against Ayato’s grip to no avail. Her weak human body couldn’t hope to overpower his strength.

I was so entranced by her that when she spoke, it startled me. I recoiled back against Ayato, blinking in confusion. Tilting my head to the side, I studied the vein in her neck that was throbbing with her pulse under the skin. Running my tongue across my fangs, my instincts seemed to take over. My usually hesitant bite went clean through the skin without any resistance. Her sweet, warm blood filled my mouth.

Ayato chuckled from behind me, slamming Yui’s head back against the wall. “There isn’t anything like fresh human blood, is there, Kisa? I think I’ll join you,” he responded. The almost crunch sound of his fangs piercing her shoulder made her cry out in pain.

“Now, now, you’ll kill her if you keep that up,” My dad’s voice came from beside me. “That’s enough, Kisa.” He was leaning against the wall, watching me with a smile.

With an annoyed growl, Ayato released Yui, letting her crumple to the floor in unconsciousness. With both arms locked around my waist, he rested his chin on my shoulder. “You’re ruining all our fun, Laito. And after this one finally bit a human for the first time.” He tickled my sides.

I broke out in laughter, now the one struggling to be free of Ayato’s grasp.

Yui groaned, holding her head as she came to.

Dad kneeled down, inspecting the girl. “Did it hurt? Her fangs are quite sharp.” He took her hands and pulled her up to her feet. She was unsteady, falling forward into his arms. Her eyes were half open, threatening to close back as she passed out again. “I should take her back to her room,” Dad said, lifting her up into his arms.

Ayato instantly dropped me, teleporting over to him. “The three of us.” He cast a glace over his shoulder at me. “Go entertain yourself for a while, kid. The adults are going to have our own kind of fun.”

In an instant, they were gone, leaving me alone. Any other day, I would have been pouting. It’s not unusual for them to be like that, but I like attention. If I really wanted, I bet Shu is somewhere around here. But… the sun had lowered in the sky, beginning to set. That means Kyo should be waiting for me at our meeting place. Changing my clothes into some leggings and an oversized shirt, I slid on my little brown boots.

Sneaking out of the house was easy with Dad distracted. He should be busy for a while… meaning I have a good amount of time to talk to Kyo. Following the path as best I could remember, the closer I got to the church, the more I could smell him. It would be best to stay on our property. He seemed to be too afraid to come onto it. So, I settled on a rock, watching him dig in the dirt with a stick. “What are you doing?”

Startled, Kyo jumped and fell back onto the ground. “Kisa! When did you get here?” He asked.

“Just now,” I answered. He has the same eyes as Yui, wide and shaking with fear. It was probably because I had been so quiet, and he didn’t hear me come up. It isn’t because he’s actually afraid of me, is it? “You asked me yesterday if I have any siblings? I don’t. My dad has five brothers though, and we all live together.”

Kyo fidgeted with his fingers and sat Indian style in the dirt. “Oh? Wow, that’s a big family. It’s just… me, mom and dad. We live in a small house.”

He’s like a little mouse.

Smiling to myself, I ventured out of my safe spot on the rock and crossed the property line. It must be from the feeling I had earlier with Yui. It’s a lot easier to feel superior when it’s someone the same size as me. Holding my hands behind my back, I leaned down close to his face. “We’re both the only child in our families. We have a lot in common.”

His face turned red, and he tried to lean away, but I matched him, keeping close. “Uh… yeah… I guess so.” Stretching his hands out behind him, Kyo sucked in a breath. He brought his hand back up, a little cut on his finger.

Even though I had drunk quite a lot from Yui, my throat felt dry. His blood didn’t smell as sweet, but it called to me just the same. I became hyperaware of his movement. His chest rising and falling as he clung to his hurt hand. The salty tears pooling his eyes. His muscles in his shoulders tensed as his gaze fell on me. “Kisa… your eyes… they’re red.”

I let my head fall to the side and a giggle escape my lips. “Oh yeah? Strange, huh?” I dropped down on to my knees straddling his legs and my hands on either side of his hips on the soft forest floor. “Does it scare you?” He already knows about vampires, and he called us evil. I don’t feel sorry for him.

Kyo recoiled away from me, his small, frail body contorting inward to shield himself. “A-A little… does that mean you’re a… vampire?” The word caught in his throat, like if he didn’t say it, it wouldn’t be true.

Grinning, I nodded my head. “Yeah, I am.” I shoved my hands against his shoulders, knocking him over so I could hover over top of him. His heart thumped hard and his breaths were heavy enough to knock his chest into mine as he stared up at me. “And I want to taste your blood.”

“What? No!” Even with his hurt hand, he fought against me. This must be what it’s like to be a full-grown vampire. It hurt when he hit me, but my strength outweighed his.

Holding his wrists against the ground, I leaned down and licked his neck. Sweaty, from fear. I closed my eyes in a moment of bliss. His body twisting under mine made me tingly with power. Maybe it would be possible to even kill him if I wanted, like Kanato does. That can come later. Sinking my fangs into his neck, I hummed in happiness. Two successful bites in one day!

There’s nothing more satisfying than the first bite.

Kyo screamed, begging for me to stop and screaming for the help. It was all a little jumbled together. If it weren’t for that, I probably would have been more aware of my surroundings. A sharp pain went through my side with enough force to knock me off Kyo. The smell of gunpowder filled my nose. Pain radiated through my body. It burned like the silver cuffs in that chair! What happened?

By the time I looked up, there was a barrel of a shotgun in my face.

 


End file.
